CANTERBURY CATHEDRAL Kent
Nestled among the cobbled streets of Canterbury stands the most important building in the Anglican Communion. Canterbury Cathedral is a site of worship, pilgrimage and history, towering above the city, and aptly grandiose given its dual roles as the Mother church of the Church of England and the wider Anglian Communion. It’s also the seat of the Archbishop of Canterbury - the Church of England’s most senior bishop.
The original cathedral was founded by St Augustine in around AD 600. He was sent by Pope Gregory the Great to convert England to Christianity - the Pope is said to have been struck by the beauty of Angle slaves in Rome’s slave markets. Augustine was given a church in Canterbury which still stands today - St Martin’s - by Ethelbert, king of Kent. In AD 601 Augustine became the first archbishop of Canterbury and took his seat within the Roman city walls, building England’s first cathedral there.